Comments

It's interesting - I know they're right, but I still have that reflexive 'biohazard' response to public toilets.

Posted by: Håkon | Jun 17, 2014 1:37:37 PM

And that, is why I *never* touch the doorhandle of public bathrooms with my bare skin. I use my wrist or my elbow or my leg, but I will NOT touch that doorhandle.

Posted by: Hun | Jun 17, 2014 1:43:13 PM

Hovering without contact over a North American-style toilet is a very awkward and uncomfortable position. If a toilet looks filthy, I just walk away. The squat-toilets in some other countries that seem foreign and weird at first actually seem like the more comfortable and sanitary choice after you get used to them.

Yeah, I don't believe a kitchen cutting board has more fecal matter than a toilet. How does fecal matter get on a cutting board? As someone else said, I never touch the bathroom doorknob when exiting. I always use a paper towel or my shirt tail if there are no paper towels.

I have a feeling -- a sick feeling -- that they're referring to fecal matter from meat. Not human, but fowl, beef, pork, fecal matter.

Posted by: BobN | Jun 17, 2014 6:27:29 PM

"Fun (and disgusting) fact from the video: In a typical home, the kitchen cutting board has around 200 times more fecal matter on it than the average toilet seat."

I have to call BS on that one. It doesn't matter where it's supposedly from, I was my cutting board between every use. There's no fecal matter on it.

Posted by: Buckie | Jun 17, 2014 10:43:01 PM

Most people rinse cutting boards, at least before putting them away. Few wash them between every ingredient using warm soapy/bleachy water. People also clean toilets regularly, but almost always using sanitizers, bleach, or other bacteria- and germ-killing products.

And yes, most of the fecal matter on cutting boards is from meat. But vegetarians aren't immune: tons of fruits and vegetables are grown using manure, it doesn't all disappear with washing, and cross-contamination often occurs in large processing plants. Similarly, produce in a market has likely been touched by at least a couple people, and food in restaurants by many more.

Everyday life is filled with invisible things that might seem gross, but the vast majority of them pose no risk.

Posted by: Paul R | Jun 18, 2014 8:40:27 AM

I generally don't put tp on the seat of a toilet, but in any public bathroom I will usually use a paper towel or even the base of my shirt in my hand on the door handle when leaving.